An NCAA Tournament Final Four team one year ago, the Tigers (22-16) wasted a 21-point first-half lead, but rallied in the final 10 seconds for overtime. They then outscored Tulsa 14-8 in the extra frame for the victory.
Tahaad Pettiford had 24 points and eight assists and Sebastian Williams-Adams tallied 13 points for the Tigers. Elyjah Freeman had six points, including two free throws with 11 seconds left in OT, and 14 rebounds.
Filip Jovic scored 12 points, while Keyshawn Hall had 11 and 12 boards, but both fouled out late in regulation.
A two-time NIT champion, the Golden Hurricane (30-8) used a 22-2 run to take the lead with 10:26 left in regulation.
Tulsa’s David Green had 25 points and six rebounds and Tylen Riley added 20 points. Ade Popoola scored 13 points.
With Tulsa trailing 48-31 at halftime, Green’s three-point play at 14:10 put the squad back in the contest, as the group trailed 57-45. Riley’s spinning layup at 12:58 made it 57-49 and forced an Auburn timeout during a 10-0 Tulsa run.
Miles Barnstable’s trey, Green’s two free throws and Riley’s pair from the line extended that run to 22-2 and put Tulsa ahead 61-59.
After Auburn forced a five-second turnover on an inbounds play while down by three, Overton drilled a corner 3-pointer to force overtime at 78-all.
With Auburn great Charles Barkley courtside, Jovic, a bruising 6-foot-8 freshman, started strong with back-to-back dunks as the Tigers used a 7-0 run for a 9-2 lead just over two minutes into the title game. Williams-Adams sank a 3-pointer at 13:58 to push it to a 16-4 advantage.
The American Conference school went 8 1/2 minutes without a field goal until Popoola’s layup at 10:51 made it 23-9.
Tulsa cut it to 39-26 on Tyler Behrend’s layup at 3:30, and Green’s 10 points led the way. However, the team shot only 38.5% (10 of 26) from the field.
Pettiford and Overton scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, as Auburn made 16 of 31 (51.7%) shots overall and led by 17 at the break.
